Indonesian earthquake – Update Oct 09 (Operations extended to hardest hit areas)

Ten days after an earthquake struck the island of Sumatra, a considerable amount of aid is already coming in to the Indonesian island. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is therefore focusing its efforts on people who live in areas that have received little aid. Some heavily affected villages are still very difficult to access. Others that are further away from the epicentre of the quake have received hardly any assistance. MSF teams have started to run mobile clinics in those areas and are providing mental health support to the survivors. They are also giving out relief items and setting up water distribution points.

"A massive amount of aid is coming in and most of the region affected by the earthquake is receiving assistance. Therefore, we try to identify gaps, focusing on the people that have received little or no aid, and trying to address uncovered needs,” says Renzo FRICKE, an emergency coordinator for MSF.

One of these areas where needs still exist is Padang Alai, a hilly region where several villages and roads were swept away by landslides. Aid is slow to arrive there, as it has to be brought by motorbike or by foot. MSF has started to distribute relief items such as blankets, plastic sheeting and jerry cans to survivors in the area and will increase these operations in the coming days to reach more villages.

Another team is intervening south of Padang, a region that was less affected by the quake but for that very reason remains largely neglected by relief efforts. MSF, in cooperation with local health authorities, has started mobile clinics in two villages in the area and will extend activities to three other villages. More mobile clinics have also started in the surroundings of Pariaman.

Although life-saving interventions are mostly over, the thousands of people who lost their home and assets require medical attention. “Many people live now in the open. They live in poor hygiene conditions and have little access to clean water. We can expect many respiratory tract infections, diarrheas and other pathologies that result from these poor living conditions,” says Loreto BARCELO, an MSF doctor.

In the most affected areas, many victims are traumatized. Most villagers have lost their house and all their belongings, and often too their family members. MSF psychologists are carrying out group sessions, where they explain simple ways of coping with such a traumatic experience. For the most severe cases, the MSF psychologists have started to offer direct counselling support.

MSF has sent close to 80 staff, international and Indonesian, to give assistance after the earthquake, including doctors, nurses, psychologists, logisticians, and water and sanitation experts. A cargo plane with 43 tonnes of material –medical kits, drugs, logistical and relief material – has already arrived and more material is being purchased locally.

 

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